Valentines Day is coming. . . here's some inspiration

January is almost over and that has me kind of panicking because I've got a birthday party to plan and Valentines Day to think about.  I have a major case of procrastination.  I could justify it by saying some of my best stuff comes out of procrastination, but really I don't like the busyness that comes from it.  I do love Valentines Day.  It's so much fun and I think that I might miss the annual tradition of making sweet notes with a cute little treats when the kids get older and stop exchanging.

I love that it teaches my kids to show kindness and love to their classmates.  I always have to make extra because there's usually a friend or two that are in other classes that they want to give a note too.  I don't mind.  I love that they are thinking of others. It's a great day for celebrating friendship and kindness. . . things that should be celebrated all year long.  I want my kids to see the joy in giving to others in kindness and generosity.

I'm not sure when the shift happened where little treats were added to the little slips of paper with a witty Valentine saying on it, and I can't say I mind all that much. It's fun, but it can add up. . . especially when you have more than one kid and class sizes are larger.   It also doesn't mean you have to go out and spend a ton of money. . . that can be kind of stressful.  It also doesn't have to be candy (I try to avoid candy as much as possible). So, I thought I would offer some ideas for some fun, non candy, Valentine fun!

I am always a fan of crayons and since I always stock up our crayon supply with fresh crayons when they are so cheap before school starts.  That means all of our older, less loved crayons get thrown in the old crayon box for future projects and silicon molds are the best for giving those crayons new life.   Here are some we have done in the past and I will share the ones we are working on for this year later when I finish them. 

Crayon hearts are super fun and you don't even have to worry about getting them all the same color.  You can find the post with the directions on how to make crayon valentines and the crayon Valentine printable over here.

And for several years, we made a ton of Lego crayons using the mini figure mold you can find at Lego stores or their website (and sometimes Amazon).  You can find this printable here.

And then there's this one that we used both the brick piece mold and the mini figure.  This one was one of my favorites . . . and I realized recently that there was a typo.  I just fixed it so their is not an extra BUILD on the one. You can find the printable over here.

Last year, we took a break from crayons because I was using the molds and crayons for Weston's Lego Birthday Party.  (I am pretty sure I've gotten my money's worth using those molds - ha ha).  Once again, I like to avoid candy.  I found some glow sticks in the dollar section at Target (one of my favorite spots!) and designed these heart tags to go with them.  They were a huge hit and I love the way they came out! You can visit this post here for the printable.

 There are tons of other ideas that don't use candy all over Pinterest and Target. . . even in the dollar spot.  You can also find fun bouncy balls, dinosaur erasers, and so much more in the Valentine section.  You really don't have to spend your life savings to have a cute, non sugary treat or Valentine.

Whatever, you do, please have fun being creative!  Get your kids involved. . . don't do all the work yourself.  Don't do something out of your budget just because you want to be pinteresty (if all you can do is a two dollar box of Frozen Valentines than take joy in that.  Don't feel guilty because you don't feel like your kid's Valentine's measure up. . . because I promise you they all end up in the trash can eventually anyway (I mean, who are we kidding?).

I would love to see what you come up with. . . feel free to use the hashtag #outoftherightbrainblog or message me on Facebook or Instagram with a picture of your kid's Valentines!

Happy Creating!